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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 1,099 records · Page 61
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2020

In-Situ Approach to Sampling and Survey for Radiological Contaminants to Release Overburden Soil for Reuse - 20120

Various methods may be utilized to determine if overburden soil meets approved release criteria to allow for reuse of overburden soil as backfill material: soil scanning and sorting equipment, survey and sampling of excavated soil, in-situ sampling, and utilization of box or truck counters are common approaches. This paper focuses on a modified approach using elements of in-situ sampling and after excavation survey for a large volume of overburden soil that was expected to meet soil release criteria. This approach was utilized for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) St. Louis District at a North St. Louis County property. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2022

Design optimization of integrated cooling inserts in modular Fischer-Tropsch reactors

Sustainable production of liquid fuels and feedstocks from atmospheric CO 2 through carbon recycling technologies is necessary to broaden decarbonization efforts and further reduce global emissions. Fischer–Tropsch (FT) reactors can address this challenge by providing storable, high-value liquid hydrocarbon fuels and feedstocks from syngas generated through reductive CO 2 utilization. FT technology, however, is most cost effective at large-scale, fixed-site plants and does not effectively address the smaller, globally distributed CO 2 point sources. Alternatively, smaller, modular reactors can be composed together to the specific scale of the emission source, yielding a flexible solution that enables more widespread deployment. In these modular reactors, thermal management using a finned cooling insert embedded within the catalyst matrix is critical to maintaining the performance and viability. Thus, in this work, topology optimization is used to determine the cooling insert geometry that maximizes reactor productivity while preventing auto-thermal runaway. Optimal designs are generated for varying number of constituent fins and over a range of maximum operating temperatures. Constraints including minimum feature length-scales and prescribed cooling insert material are imposed on the designs to enhance manufacturability. The impact of design features such as insert tapering and increased length scale hierarchy is automatically revealed by the systematic design framework employed. Here, this approach thus generates novel optimal geometries while automating, accelerating, and enhancing the design process compared to traditional heuristic approaches for cooling insert design in modular FT reactors.

30 DIRECT ENERGY CONVERSION↗
DOE OSTI2021

Test Information Management System (Report FY 2020 and FY 2021)

Delivery Environments supported work in Fiscal Years 2020 and 2021 to develop the Test Information Management System (TIMS). This effort involved creating a suite of tools consisting of a database and the uploading and downloading scripts. It has been demonstrated that the TIMS database is suitable for archiving raw measurements performed on various measured test articles. The TIMS database has been populated with data from the TRUST projects in FY 20 and FY 21. This included the functional data in the Sensors records as well as metadata stored in records in several other tables. The performed work demonstrated that a database archiving validation test data and integrating it with engineering analysis simulations has a great potential to increase the efficiency, responsiveness, and confidence in the modeling, simulation, and validation efforts for future (and current) weapon systems and assemblies in normal and abnormal environments. In this report, we also discuss how the records belonging to the same project should be arranged, what are the minimum requirements for linking the records using the tabular links, and we provide several recommendations to the projects engineers and the database administrator to improve the TIMS database.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2023

Thermal Analysis of Liquid and Air Cooling of High-Power-Density Integrated Motor Drives

Thermal management is a crucial aspect in the design of motor and drive systems. This paper introduces a coordinated cooling approach utilizing both liquid and air to enhance the integrated motor drive's power density. The proposed solution incorporates a shared water jacket to cool both the machine and power electronics, combined with forced air ventilation for the end windings and rotor. This approach is structurally simpler, less expensive, and more effective than conventional non-interacting cooling schemes. The paper addresses the modeling of key thermal features and nonlinearities including material anisotropy, contact thermal resistance, and uneven winding loss distributions. In addition, this study utilizes a more detailed model of the loss distribution among the winding turns in each slot that delivers a higher level of accuracy. Finite Element Analysis (FEA) results demonstrate the effectiveness of the integrated cooling system for efficiently cooling the designed integrated motor drive system.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2023

Adaptive primal–dual control for distributed energy resource management

With the increased adoption of distributed energy resources (DERs) in distribution networks, their coordinated control with a DER management system (DERMS) that provides grid services (e.g., voltage regulation, virtual power plant) is becoming more necessary. One particular type of DERMS using primal–dual control has recently been found to be very effective at providing multiple grid services among an aggregation of DERs; however, the main parameter, the primal–dual step size, must be manually tuned for the DERMS to be effective, which can take a considerable amount of engineering time and labor. To this end, we design a simple method that self-tunes the step size(s) and adapts it to changing system conditions. Additionally, it gives the DER management operator the ability to prioritize among possibly competing grid services. Here we evaluate the automatic tuning method on a simulation model of a real-world feeder in Colorado with data obtained from an electric utility. Through a variety of scenarios, we demonstrate that the DERMS with automatically and adaptively tuned step sizes provides higher-quality grid services than a DERMS with a manually tuned step size.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2023

Exploration of Fuel Property Impacts on the Combustion of Late Post Injections Using Binary Blends and High-Reactivity Ether Bioblendstocks

In this study, the impacts of fuel volatility and reactivity on combustion stability and emissions were studied in a light-duty single-cylinder research engine for a three-injection catalyst heating operation strategy with late post-injections. Here, N-heptane and blends of farnesane/2,2,4,4,6,8,8-heptamethylnonane were used to study the impacts of volatility and reactivity. The effect of increased chemical reactivity was also analysed by comparing the baseline #2 diesel operation with a pure blend of mono-ether components (CN > 100) representative of potential high cetane oxygenated bioblendstocks and a 25 vol.% blend of the mono-ether blend and #2 diesel with a cetane number (CN) of 55. At constant reactivity, little to no variation in combustion performance was observed due to differences in volatility, whereas increased reactivity improved combustion stability and efficiency at late injection timings. Fuels with higher reactivity were found to reduce engine-out hydrocarbon and carbon monoxide emissions while also achieving stable combustion at post-injection timings later than those achievable with #2 diesel fuel. The pure ether blend had the latest achievable post-injection timing of +30.5 CAD while still maintaining stable combustion (coefficient of variation of gross-indicated mean effective pressure < 5%). With post-injection timing adjusted to achieve a matched exhaust temperature of 300 °C, the ether-diesel CN 55 blend was observed to have slightly higher thermal efficiency in comparison to the baseline #2 diesel fuel. The results also indicate that cetane number may serve as a good indicator of combustion characteristics at late injection timings used for aftertreatment thermal management operation.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗
DOE OSTI2021

Evaluation of Engineered Barrier Systems FY21 Report

This report describes research and development (R&D) activities conducted during fiscal year 2021 (FY21) specifically related to the Engineered Barrier System (EBS) R&D Work Package in the Spent Fuel and Waste Science and Technology (SFWST) Campaign supported by the United States (U.S.) Department of Energy (DOE). The R&D activities focus on understanding EBS component evolution and interactions within the EBS, as well as interactions between the host media and the EBS. A primary goal is to advance the development of process models that can be implemented directly within the Generic Disposal System Analysis (GDSA) platform or that can contribute to the safety case in some manner such as building confidence, providing further insight into the processes being modeled, establishing better constraints on barrier performance, etc.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2023

Stochastic multiscale modeling for quantifying statistical and model errors with application to composite materials

This paper provides a coherent and efficient computational framework for stochastic multiscale analysis of material systems in the presence of parametric uncertainties and modeling errors. Uncertainty in those model parameters that are not deduced as upscaled quantities is attributed to an uncertainty “germ”. While such parameters can appear at any scale, they are predominant at the finest analysis scale. Additional uncertainties stemming from statistical estimation, attributed to lack of data and model error, are associated with each submodel contributing to the multiscale system. Here, a robust and efficient framework based on a generalized extended polynomial chaos expansion (gEPCE) is proposed to simultaneously propagate all these uncertainties in order to provide a probabilistic representation of specific quantities of interest (QoI). We characterize the full probability distribution of the QoI and the uncertainty in the failure probability pertaining to its tails. By combining gEPCE with kernel density estimation (KDE) and directional derivatives, we construct sensitivity measures that connect these statistical metrics of QoI to the various sources of uncertainty to assess their individual and combined impacts. An illustrative problem featuring three-point bending of a composite beam is investigated to demonstrate the presented approach.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2024

Fabrication of pristine 2D heterostructures for scanning probe microscopy

Material-by-design has been a long-standing aspiration that has recently become a reality. Such designer materials have been repeatedly demonstrated using the top-down approach of mechanical exfoliation and stacking, leading to a variety of artificial 2D heterostructures with new properties that are otherwise unattainable. Consequently, tremendous research frontiers in physics, chemistry, engineering, and life science have been created. While thousands of layered crystals exist in nature, only a few dozen of them with manageable chemical-stability have been made into heterostructures using this method. Moreover, experimental investigations of materials that have received limited exploration in the 2D realm, such as cuprates, halides, and perovskites, along with their heterostructures, have been fundamentally hindered by their rapid chemical degradation. Another critical challenge imposed by exfoliating and stacking 2D layers in ambient environment is the absorption of itinerant gas molecules that further contaminate sensitive 2D interfaces in the heterostructures. Such contamination and compromised material properties significantly hinder surface-sensitive local probes—scanning probe microscopy (SPM)—that often require nanometer to atomic scale surface cleanliness. In this article, we aim to provide a technical review of recent development toward 2D materials and heterostructure fabrication in more controlled environments that are suitable for SPM characterizations. These include the development of more efficient mechanical exfoliation and dry-transfer techniques, as well as the incorporation of 2D material exfoliation and transfer in inert gas, low vacuum, and, eventually, ultra-high vacuum environments. Finally, we provide an outlook on the remaining challenges and opportunities in ultra-clean 2D material fabrication techniques.

Materials Science↗
DOE OSTI2021

Propagation Pattern for Moment Representation of the Lattice Boltzmann Method

A propagation pattern for the moment representation of the regularized lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) in three dimensions is presented. Using effectively lossless compression, the simulation state is stored as a set of moments of the lattice Boltzmann distribution function, instead of the distribution function itself. An efficient cache-aware propagation pattern for this moment representation has the effect of substantially reducing both the storage and memory bandwidth required for LBM simulations. This article extends recent work with the moment representation by expanding the performance analysis on central processing unit (CPU) architectures, considering how boundary conditions are implemented, and demonstrating the effectiveness of the moment representation on a graphics processing unit (GPU) architecture.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2022

Caldera_Grid

Caldera Grid is part of Caldera software platform, a suite of collective, open-source tools that was developed to improve the state of the art in modeling the impacts of Electric Vehicle (EV) charging on the grid. Caldera Grid is a co-simulation framework implemented using Hierarchical Engine for Large scale Infrastructure Co-Simulation (HELICS). The framework facilitates the co-simulation of EV charging and Smart Charge Management (SCM) strategies in Caldera Infrastructure Charge Model (ICM) with distribution level grid models in OpenDSS. Vehicle energy needs and charge session requirements generated using Caldera Charge Decision Module (CDM) are fed in as input to Caldera Grid. The EV charging models in Caldera ICM simulates both the uncontrolled charging loads as well as loads modified by the SCM strategies to develop distributed load profiles for each grid node hosting an Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment (EVSE) – also known as chargers. These loads were simulated in OpenDSS alongside existing distribution feeder loads. Each of these models are co-simulated in a HELICS federate. The HELICS co-simulation framework facilitates communication and synchronization between the federates. By co-simulating EV loads and distribution feeder loads, Caldera Grid can assess the potential grid impacts of EV charging on distribution feeders under various grid conditions. A control strategy federate is implemented with an interface where control strategies based on feedback from EV charging status and grid conditions can be developed and implemented. The platform can also support multiple control strategies in a single co-simulation.

Sundarrajan, ManojKumar Cebol↗
DOE OSTI2022

Building and Executing Aggressive Research Plans in a Large National Laboratory Consortium: Insights from the Co-Optimization of Fuels and Engines Initiative

This report describes lessons learned in the establishment, execution and termination of a large, multi-institutional consortium, derived from the Co-Optimization of Fuels and Engines experience. The decision to form a consortium comes with benefits (in advancing challenging multidisciplinary research) and costs (in time and additional management funds). Once the decision is made, key elements to a strong start include establishing a shared vision and goals; engaging an experienced project manager early; instituting feedback and oversight mechanisms to ensure relevance, strong performance, and situational awareness. Once a consortium is up and running, DOE and leadership should strike the right balance between competition and collaboration; foster an environment that builds trust; and adjust the organizational structure as needed to maintain collaboration. Finally, DOE and the labs can plan effectively for a smooth transition as a consortium winds down. This report provides some additional lessons and details on these lessons that we hope future DOE and lab leaders will find useful as they contemplate standing up new consortia.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2024

S&TR April/May 2024 EMDEC Issue

At Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, we focus on science and technology research to ensure our nation's security. We also apply that expertise to solve other important national problems in energy, bioscience, and the environment. Science & Technology Review is published eight times a year to communicate, to a broad audience, the Laboratory's scientific and technological accomplishments in fulfilling its primary missions. The publication's goal is to help readers understand these accomplishments and appreciate their value to the individual citizen, the nation, and the world.

99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗
DOE OSTI2026

Storage Field Development Plan: One Earth Energy

This Storage Field Development plan presents the Storage Complex characterization results, construction, monitoring, and operational plans, and costs associated with the proposed One Earth Sequestration Carbon Capture and Storage (OES-CCS) site in McLean County, Illinois, near Gibson City. The proposed storage complex, known as the Mt. Simon Storage Complex, comprises the Cambrian Mt. Simon Sandstone reservoir and the primary seal, the Cambrian Eau Claire Formation. The lowermost Underground Source of Drinking Water (USDW) identified for the site is the Ordovician St. Peter Sandstone. Geologic characterization of the Mt. Simon Storage Complex at the OES-CCS site was performed by the Illinois Storage Corridor CarbonSAFE Phase III project, which also prepared and submitted three UIC Class VI applications to construct three injection wells; the permit applications were submitted and are in the federal EPA review process. A characterization well, OEE #1, was drilled to collect site-specific data. These data were analyzed and used to develop the UIC Class VI applications. The OEE #1 well will be converted to an in-zone monitoring (IZM) well for the injection phase. The proposed buildout for the OES-CCS site includes (1) three injection wells (OES #1, OES #2, and OES #3), (2) two IZM wells, (3) two above confining zone (ACZ) monitoring wells, one of which will be used to monitor the lowermost USDW, (4) capture and compression facilities, and (5) transportation facilities, i.e., pipelines. A pre-operational testing program was proposed in the Class VI permit application and will be employed at the site pending approval. Additional pre-injection (baseline), syn-injection, and post-injection monitoring and site care procedures will be followed by OES to ensure that injection activities are protective of human health and the environment. Injection is scheduled to begin in 2025, distributed across the three injection wells in accordance with the permit operating conditions. One Earth Sequestration intends to inject up to 90 million tonnes of CO 2 over a period of approximately 20 years. Injection will begin at approximately 0.5 million tonnes of CO 2 annually and ramp up to a maximum of 4.5 million tonnes annually. Daily injection rates are expected to range from 1,400 to 1,500 tonnes per day initially and reach a maximum of approximately 4,225 tonnes per day, depending on site geology and injectivity at each injection well location, and CO 2 availability. The costs associated with the OES-CCS project include pre-operational costs (e. g. additional seismic data acquisition and well drilling), capture and transportation facility and equipment costs, predicted field operating expenditures (OpEx), and decommissioning and post-injection site care (PISC) costs. The risks associated with project activities, such as site construction, injection operations, and verification of secure storage were evaluated, and mitigation strategies proposed to alleviate those risks.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗
DOE OSTI2026

Grid Architecture Mapping to Understand Transformation (GAMUT): Methods and Framework Architecture

Grid architecture (GA) is a concept that was developed to address the need for a comprehensive view of power grid challenges. GA can be viewed as a relatively consistent and fixed high-level approach; however, for any instantiation of grid structures, a combinatorial explosion results from each lower-layer expansion. This constitutes the main challenge with GA—it is a grid architect’s view of the system, which might not be very informative at the implementation level. Grid Architecture Mapping to Understand Transformation (GAMUT project) seeks to bridge that gap by integrating subject matter expertise across GA structures, providing users who lack expertise in GA approaches with valuable insights and informational materials. GAMUT seeks to answer feasibility questions for the approach. System-level expectations are that a GA baseline needs to be established in order for GA to be the common framework to which any lower layer approach is tied. This report explores a potential information ingestion and documentation framework to support GAMUT. The main concepts that enable the solution domain of GAMUT are discussed, and examples are provided. The solution domain leverages already-existing technology and concepts related to GA, knowledge management, and other relevant areas. To assess GAMUT building blocks and the overall approach, a feasibility assessment is proposed, rooted in systems engineering and GA architecture evaluation concepts.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2023

Local Power Impact Experiment Design for a New Fuel Type for use in the Advanced Test Reactor

The Advanced Test Reactor (ATR), and complimentary zero-power ATR Critical (ATRC) reactor, located at Idaho National Labs (INL), are undergoing conversion from Highly Enriched Uranium (HEU) to Low Enriched Uranium (LEU). Both have a variety of testing locations that can receive large variations in flux due to its unique serpentine design, consisting of five lobes (see Figure 1). Initial criticality and power distribution throughout the core are controlled by core-external outer shim control cylinders (OSCCs). Distinct test loops allow for testing at specific temperatures, pressures, and irradiation conditions. The ATR is one of the key nuclear engineering research and testing facilities within the DOE National Laboratory Complex, and the ATRC supports its operation [1]. Currently, the Office of Material Management and Minimization (M3) within the National Nuclear Security Administration of the DOE is working to convert the remaining research reactors, including the ATR, from 93% HEU fuel to 19.75% LEU fuel (LEU) to support non-proliferation [2]. Extensive materials testing at INL and internationally has demonstrated that a high-density uranium molybdenum (U 10Mo) alloy can meet the performance requirements of the remaining high powered research reactors. However, there are many technical challenges to address before the conversion to LEU can be successful, including the accurate characterization of the reactor core physics with LEU fuel. Reactor physics safety evaluations currently use Monte Carlo for the 21st Century (MC21), a continuous-energy Monte Carlo radiation transport code [3]. Existing MC21 models of the ATR and ATRC cores have a validation basis for use in neutronics analyses with HEU fuel. The models are used to support safety analyses that include comparisons to the safety requirements for the reactors. However, the use of the LOWE element in the ATR and ATRC is not currently covered by the current model validation basis. To deploy the new fuel type, extensive computational reactor physics support is necessary to support the use of LOWE in the ATR and ATRC. Therefore, LOWE requires a rigorous validation basis, aligned with that of HEU fuel, that takes advantage of the existing software tools and processes currently used for the ATR and ATRC. The experiment to validate of the MC21 models for determining power, the Power Impact Validation Experiment, will consist of two flux runs in the ATRC, one with fully HEU loading and one with a single LOWE element. Both flux runs will be instrumented with 20 sets of azimuthal fission wires and 3 sets of axial fission wires, as shown in Figure 4. Standard flux run methodology will be used [4]. Power Impact Validation Experiment data will be compared against MC21 calculated data, both for absolute fission rate accuracy and to determine the relative change in fission rates between the two runs. The results of the Power Impact Validation Experiment and subsequent evaluations will provide the validation basis for MC21 for use with LOWE elements. Key features of the Power Impact Validation Experiment include: (1) Two flux runs to allow for LOWE perturbed measurements to be compared to already validated measurements taken from a full core of HEU fuel, (2) Optimization of instrumentation to balance analytical needs with practical considerations (e.g., limited time window to count beta particles from fission products), and (3) Standard ATRC core loading, including both driver positions and flux traps, to minimize cost while remaining representative of typical ATR core loading.

42 ENGINEERING↗